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NEWS AND NOTES

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Marshall and Robert Morris – CLICK HERE

–JNG.  Even though we are just a couple of days in, people are already asking for/demanding Joby’s Nitty Gritty Rankings (the JNG)!!!  As far as how they work and what computers and programs he uses….I have no idea.  What I do know is that all 353 teams need to have played at least one game against a div1 opponent in order for his formula to work.  Otherwise, if he tried to run the formulas, his computer would explode or something like that.  As soon as all teams have played a div1 game they will be posted, and they will be updated on a pretty much daily basis from that point on.

-Notre Dame led North Carolina throughout much of the first half and through part of the second half.  UNC eventually opened it up and got the win, but the Irish made a pretty good account of themselves.  They look a lot better than the team that lost 8 out of 9 (or whatever it was) to end the season a year ago.

-Syracuse squared off against Virginia, which is never a good idea if you can avoid it.  They did hold the defending national champs to just 48 points!!  The problem is that they themselves only scored 34 points.  Starting the season off with a conference road win is a pretty good way to start things off.

-Ohio State and Cincinnati played one of the ugliest first halves of basketball that you may see all season, but they both kind of came out of it in the second half and we saw a free flowing, well played game where both teams were able to score.  For the second year in a row, Ohio State picked up the 64-56 win.  It wasn’t just the second year in a row that Ohio State won.  It was the second year in a row that they won 64-56.  Cincinnati did look pretty good (at least in the second half) under their new head coach.  To go on the road against a ranked team and be able to stay with them, and to shut them down defensively, is a pretty promising sign despite the loss.

-Boston College held off Wake Forest in their ACC opener.  BC is now in first place in the ACC, and will be for the next six weeks or so.  Think about that!

-Pitt picked up a nice win at home against Florida State.  I’m not going to say that I’m shocked by it, but it was a game that I thought the Noles would win.  It’s a great start for a Pitt team that hasn’t had much to be excited about in the last several years.

-Mount Saint Mary’s had a 59-45 lead on Georgetown about midway through the second half, and had played an outstanding game up to that point.  Then Georgtetown finally wok up, outscored them 36-9 from that point on, and ended up getting the win.

-San Jose State started the season off with a really solid road win at Hofstra.  SAN JOSE STATE!!!  A SOLID ROAD WIN!!  I’m trying to think if that has ever happened before.  As it stands now, I think they’ve got the most impressive win out of anyone else in the MWC.  Granted, it’s very early, but that was a good start.

-I thought Merrimack would have a chance to win their div1 debut against Maine.  I was wrong.  The Black Bears picked up the win and never even really had to sweat.

-Belmont and Illinois State went back and forth before Illinois State was able to pull out the win at home.  It was a good showing by a Belmont team that had a fair amount of roster turnover, and I don’t want to say it was a bad loss in the sense that they can still bounce back, but the margin for error is so small for a UTR team that they need to be able to win games like this one.

-Oklahoma State really had to sweat out Oral Roberts, but they were able to come up with the win.

-UCLA got all they wanted from Long Beach State, and actually trailed for most of the game, but was able to pull it off in Mick Cronin’s debut.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-WINTHROP AT HARTFORD – Hartford can improve to 2-0 with a win

-SEATTLE AT WASHINGTON STATE.  This may be the most intriguing game of the night.  Seattle was decimated with injuries last year, but prior to that they had looked pretty good.  They’re healthy this year, and they may be able to take down (and possibly even beat) a low level Pac 12 team on the road.

-BRYANT AT RUGERS – buy game

-PRESBYTERIAN AT CLEMSON – buy game

-SOUTHWESTERN (nondiv1) AT TCU – buy game

NEWS AND NOTES

-For John Stalica’s UTR Game of the Day between Belmont and Illinois State – CLICK HERE

-A win against a top 5 team (or as it currently stands a top 4 team) away from home is normally the kind of win that separates a team from the pack and gets them on the #1 line.  That’s what Kentucky and Duke picked up last night in the Champions Classic.  Now, it is just the first game, and we don’t know for sure if those wins will look quite as big at the end of the season as they do right now, but right now they look pretty huge.  Kansas struggled with turnovers in their game against Duke, but was still right in there to the very end.  If they can get that fixed then they probably won’t lose too many the rest of the way.  Kentucky led for most of the game against Michigan State, but couldn’t quite put them away until the final minute or so.  I get the sense that all four teams feel like they have things they can work on and will likely improve as the season goes on.  Playing a tough opponent early in the year can teach you more about yourself than just devouring a bunch of cupcakes in buy games.

-Saint Mary’s got a big win against Wisconsin on a neutral floor.  SMC appeared to have the game in hand, but Wisky came back, tied it, and actually had a shot at the buzzer to win the game that didn’t go down.  SMC picked up something last night that they’ve struggled to pick up in the past.  A solid OOC win away from home.

-There were some surprises last night, most notably Penn (who we thought of as a team that would finish in the top half of the Ivy League, but not quite on top of the Ivy League) going on the road to Alabama and getting the win.  Penn freshman Jordan Dingle had a spectacular college debut with 24pts, 7 rebounds, and the game winning shot with six seconds to go.  Alabama went to the line with just two seconds to play with a chance to tie or take the lead, but missed both freethrows.  Penn played a fantastic game and got the 81-80 win.

-Georgia Tech, who had some bad news this offseason, got their season off to a good start with a road win over NC State.  This is a bit of a head-scratching loss for a Wolfpack team that many of us thought would be a solid NCAA Tournament team.  It’s just one game, so they still could be, but it’s not the kind of home loss you oftentimes see out of a tournament caliber team.

-This won’t raise many eyebrows, but Furman picked up a nice road win at Gardner Webb.  I say that because I think this Furman team could end up inside the bubble.  I also don’t think that Gardner Webb will lose too many more at home, so they could end up getting a little more credit for the win last night than what most people think.

-Utah State had to really sweat out Montana State in their opener.  I have to admit that I was more impressed with Montana State (who I didn’t see as being one of the better teams in the Big Sky) than I was disappointed in Utah State.  There are certainly things that Utah State needs to work on, but it’s early November, so that’s true for everyone.

HIGHLIGHTED GAMES

-WAKE FOREST AT BOSTON COLLEGE (ACC).  It’s the game of the year in the ACC!!!!  Just think about this.  One of these teams will be in first place for the next two months!!

-NOTRE DAME AT NORTH CAROLINA (ACC).  The Irish are looking to rebound from a really rough year last year.  They’ve got a tall order tonight against what will once again be a really strong UNC team.

-MERRIMACK AT MAINE.  Welcome to div1 basketball Merrimack!!  Their opening game, not just of the season, but of their div1 history, is at Maine.  And that raises the question…Is this actually a winnable game??!!

-SAN JOSE STATE AT HOFSTRA.  I kind of like this Hofstra team this year.  They should be able to get off to a 1-0 start.

-BELMONT AT ILLINOIS STATE.  This is a great UTR game between a Belmont team that, while rebuilding, still looks to be one of the better teams in the OVC, and an Illinois State team that could be a dark horse in the Missouri Valley this year.

-FLORIDA STATE AT PITTSBURGH (ACC).  It’s never easy to win on the road in conference, but I like this FSU team, and while Pitt has improved, I still think they’ve got a ways to go.

-CINCINNATI AT OHIO STATE.  Last year, when at long last these two teams had agreed to a regular season series, the game was really rough to watch.  It’s a big first game for both teams who can pick up a quality win against a (sort of) rival right out of the gate.

-VIRGINIA AT SYRACUSE (ACC).  A big game here as Virginia opens their season at Syracuse.  Seeing as how this is a conference game against the defending national champs, Syracuse should get a lot more buzz for this one than what they typically do for November home games.

-MONTANA AT STANFORD.  We are highlighting this one moreso for Montana than for Stanford.  This is actually a winnable road game for a Montana team that should be a contender in the Big Sky along with Eastern Washington.

BUY GAMES

-IUPUI @ Butler
-Mercer @ Saint John’s
-Green Bay @ Purdue
-North Alabama @ South Carolina
-Mount Saint Mary’s @ Georgetown
-Incarnate Word @ Missouri
-Northwestern State @ Texas A&M
-SEMO @ Vanderbilt
-SELA @ Tulane
-Oral Roberts @ Oklahoma State
-Northern Arizona @ Arizona
-Eastern New Mexico (nondiv1) @ New Mexico
-Long Beach State @ UCLA